Twenty Thousand Hertz+

The stories behind the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds.

Hosted by Sound Designer Dallas Taylor, Twenty Thousand Hertz unlocks the stories, secrets and science behind what you hear.

Whether you’re a professional audio engineer with decades of experience, a fourth grader who loves sound and music, or anyone in between, you’ll find something to love: the sound design secrets of hit movies, the forgotten backstories of classic theme songs, the sonic craft of jingles and device sounds, linguistic mysteries, psychoacoustics, video game music, animal communication, and beyond. With moving human stories, immersive sound design, and non-stop ear candy, Twenty Thousand Hertz has grown into the world’s leading podcast about sound. 

New to the show? Start here:

• I'm Lovin' It: How “Ba da ba ba ba” took over the world

• The Art of Foley: Bringing Slimer & Batman to life

• Tudum! The story behind the iconic Netflix sound

• The Legend of Zelda: A Beep to the Past

• Inside Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Studios

• A sonic journey through the Solar System

• Mind the Gap: NYC & London’s iconic transit voices

Design
Arts
Music Commentary
101
MicroHertz: To the ISS!
20K visits the International Space Station
15 min
102
Sleight of Ear: Behind the scenes w/ Dallas Ta...
Dallas reveals the tricks of the trade.
24 min
103
Breathe: My Unexpected Journey
A story from Dallas’ former life.
32 min
104
Relearning Boléro: How our brains rewrite the ...
Can we really trust our ears?
38 min
105
Ghosts in the Hit Machine: The secrets of music...
Inside the secretive world of ghostwriting and ghost producing.
27 min
106
Why Windows Got Rid of Startup Sounds
The death and rebirth of the Windows startup sound.
31 min
107
Ta-da! The history of Windows’ classic startup...
Start me up.
26 min
108
The Waterphone: Hollywood’s spookiest sound effect
The sound that haunts Hollywood.
24 min
109
Mind the Gap: NYC & London’s iconic transit vo...
Stand clear of the closing doors, please.
32 min
110
Hidden Hitmakers: The unsung heroes behind pop...
Who writes the hits for the pop stars?
33 min
111
Happy Little Episode: The soothing voice of Bob...
How a soft-spoken, poofy-haired painter changed the world, one gentle word at a time.
41 min
112
Pirate Radio: Britain’s AM rebels of the ’60s
How a group of scrappy radio pirates changed the course of music history.
33 min
113
Being Dallas Taylor: Meeting my name twins
What’s in a name?
40 min
114
Sul Sul! Behind the gibberish language of The Sims
The secrets of Simlish, the gibberish language of The Sims.
25 min
115
Guess That Sound 2021: Underunderstood
The hosts of Underunderstood go head to head in our annual Mystery Sound game.
37 min
116
The Static Angel: How HBO perfected its sonic i...
How HBO reconciled its analog past with its digital future.
25 min
117
It’s Not TV: Behind HBO’s legendary sounds
How HBO crafted two of the most iconic pieces of sonic branding in history.
23 min
118
One simple trick scientists say will stop snoring
If you live with a snorer, it can be tricky to roll out of bed after a night of little sleep.
40 min
119
Creature Speakers: The art of voicing monsters
How do you voice over 200 monsters?
26 min
120
How blind gamers are changing the world of vide...
The ins and outs of gaming without sight.
24 min
121
Sports Without Sight: The sound-driven world of...
Keep your ears on the ball.
21 min
122
Sound Cinema: Experiencing film through audio ...
Hearing is believing.
27 min
123
Sonic Bubbles: Escaping noise, but at what cost?
Self-control through sound control.
24 min
124
Domestic Symphony: Why your dryer has a theme song
What happens when dryers and dishwashers get the sound design treatment?
22 min
125
The mysterious “Windsor Hum” is finally solved!
Cracking the case of a sonic mystery.
13 min